This ornament decorated part of an elevator screen in the Schlesinger & Mayer Department Store (later the Carson Pirie Scott Building). It was designed by Louis H. Sullivan and produced by the Winslow Brothers Company in Chicago. It was removed from the building in 1936, and in 1937 was mounted in the entrance of an apartment building at 5551 S. University Avenue designed and occupied by architects George Fred Keck and William Keck.

Curatorial Statement

This ornament reflects Chicago's rich architectural history. It was designed around 1899 by Louis Sullivan, a pioneering figure in the development of the architectural style known as the First Chicago School, which combined intricate organic designs with modern forms and materials. The ornament decorated an elevator screen in the Schlesinger & Mayer Department Store, (later Carson Pirie Scott). The building, considered Sullivan's masterpiece, is a perfect combination of beauty and form where an ornate iron entrance and interior decoration is paired with rows of horizontal, Chicago-style windows that admitted more light and made merchandise easier to see. Winslow Brothers Company was a large national manufacturer of decorative iron and copper that worked with Sullivan on a number of buildings.